West Africa has made progress in peace

UNITED NATIONS - A senior UN official said here Monday that the West Africa region has progressed with regards to peace and security but still faces significant problems and vulnerabilities.

Said Djinnit, special representative of the UN secretary- general and head of the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA), said that the region has taken a "step in the right direction" but that the situation "calls for us to remain wary as progress remains tenuous."

Djinnit's statement came as he addressed the UN Security Council at a meeting on UNOWA. Djinnit presented UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon's latest report on the office to council members.

UNOWA, established in 2002, serves as a peacebuilding and conflict prevention office in an area of the world where many issues and conflicts have impacts across national borders. The office also works with sub-regional organizations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to consolidate peace and enforce rule of law and human rights.

The UNOWA report indicated that there has been a decline in open conflict in West Africa of late.

"Such tensions have lessened in number and intensity," Djinnit told the council. "Moreover some countries in the sub-region organized elections that were judged credible by the international community."

However, according to Djinnit, the international community and regional and sub-regional organizations must remain aware of the problems on the ground. He said that security efforts thus far could be rendered null if the "scourge of drug trafficking and organized crime" is allowed to erode the state and society.

He pointed to disturbances of the peace in Guinea-Bissau, where a military coup was thwarted in December 2011, as well as in Nigeria, which has been negatively impacted by the militant extremist group Boko Haram, a development he called "worrisome."

"It is also important for the international community to make real its support and solidarity in respect to this country that has contributed so much to regional and international peace and security," Djinnit said of Nigeria.

The UNOWA chief said that it is essential that countries of West Africa complete peacebuilding and reconciliation processes.

"In this context of tenuous progress, the successful conclusion of political dialogue and national reconciliation processes in the countries of the sub-region, particularly in Togo, Guinea, and Cote d'Ivoire, will be decisive in ensuring that progress in West Africa in peace and democracy are lasting," he noted.